Cambodian Culture since 1975

Cambodian Culture since 1975

Author: May Mayko Ebihara

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2018-07-05

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1501723855

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Since the civil war of the 1970s, Cambodia has suffered devastating upheavals that killed a million ' people and exiled hundreds of thousands. This book is the first to examine Cambodian culture after the ravages of the Pol Pot regime-and to bear witness to the transformation and persistence of tradition among contemporary Cambodians at home and abroad. Bringing together essays by Khmer and Western scholars in anthropology, linguistics, literature, and ethnomusicology, the volume documents the survival of a culture that many had believed lost. Individual chapters explore such topics as Buddhist belief and practice among refugees in the United States, distinctive features of modern Cambodian novels, the lessons taught by Khmer proverbs, some uses of metaphor by the Khmer Rouge regime, the state of traditional music, the recent revival of a form of traditional theater, the concept of pain in Khmer culture, changing conceptions of gender, and refugees' interpretation of American television. Together the essays map a contemporary Cambodian culture, which, for over two hundred thousand Khmers, is now firmly entwined in the social fabric of the urban West.


Traces of Trauma

Traces of Trauma

Author: Boreth Ly

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2019-11-30

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0824856090

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How do the people of a morally shattered culture and nation find ways to go on living? Cambodians confronted this challenge following the collective disasters of the American bombing, the civil war, and the Khmer Rouge genocide. The magnitude of violence and human loss, the execution of artists and intellectuals, the erasure of individual and institutional cultural memory all caused great damage to Cambodian arts, culture, and society. Author Boreth Ly explores the “traces” of this haunting past in order to understand how Cambodians at home and in the diasporas deal with trauma on such a vast scale. Ly maintains that the production of visual culture by contemporary Cambodian artists and writers—photographers, filmmakers, court dancers, and poets—embodies traces of trauma, scars leaving an indelible mark on the body and the psyche. Her book considers artists of different generations and family experiences: a Cambodian-American woman whose father sent her as a baby to the United States to be adopted; the Cambodian-French filmmaker, Rithy Panh, himself a survivor of the Khmer Rouge, whose film The Missing Picture was nominated for an Oscar in 2014; a young Cambodian artist born in 1988—part of the “post-memory” generation. The works discussed include a variety of materials and remnants from the historical past: the broken pieces of a shattered clay pot, the scarred landscape of bomb craters, the traditional symbolism of the checkered scarf called krama, as well as the absence of a visual archive. Boreth Ly’s poignant book explores obdurate traces that are fragmented and partial, like the acts of remembering and forgetting. Her interdisciplinary approach, combining art history, visual studies, psychoanalysis, cultural studies, religion, and philosophy, is particularly attuned to the diverse body of material discussed, including photographs, video installations, performance art, poetry, and mixed media. By analyzing these works through the lens of trauma, she shows how expressions of a national trauma can contribute to healing and the reclamation of national identity.


Khmer Culture

Khmer Culture

Author: Hseham Amrahs

Publisher: Mahesh Dutt Sharma

Published: 2023-12-31

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13:

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Throughout the book, we will explore some of Cambodia's most iconic cultural sites, such as the Angkor Wat temple complex, the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. We will also take you off the beaten path, introducing you to some of Cambodia's lesser-known cultural treasures, such as the traditional Cambodian village of Kampong Khleang and the floating markets of Tonle Sap Lake. As we journey through Cambodia's cultural landscape, we will explore the country's rich history and traditions, from its ancient Khmer Empire to its modern-day revival of traditional arts and crafts. We will introduce you to Cambodia's diverse ethnic groups and explore the role of religion and spirituality in Cambodian culture, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and animism. In addition to exploring Cambodia's cultural heritage, we will also provide practical information about travel in Cambodia, including tips for navigating the country's complex visa requirements, transportation options, and accommodations. We will also provide recommendations for restaurants, shopping, and other cultural experiences that will help you make the most of your trip to Cambodia. We hope that this book will inspire you to explore the rich cultural heritage of Cambodia and to immerse yourself in the country's vibrant traditions and customs. We also hope that it will serve as a practical guide for those who are planning a trip to Cambodia, providing valuable information and insights into the country's cultural landscape.


Angkor and the Khmer Civilization

Angkor and the Khmer Civilization

Author: Michael D. Coe

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9780500284421

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A panoramic tour of Cambodian history traces its rediscovery in the mid-nineteenth century and what the latest findings have revealed about Khmer civilization, documenting such periods as the five-century part-Hindu, part-Buddhist empire, the gradual abandonment of Angkor, and the move of the capital downriver to the Phnom Penh area. Reprint.


Cambodian Dancer

Cambodian Dancer

Author: Daryn Reicherter

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Published: 2015-11-10

Total Pages: 37

ISBN-13: 1462917690

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"Dance is a means to tell stories across cultures and in The Cambodian Dancer: Sophany's Gift of Hope, we discover how it can also be used as a way to overcome immense pain and loss. Daryn Reicherter's moving story and Christy Hale's beautiful illustrations introduce us to Sophany Bay and show us how central dance was to her life. When she was forced to leave Cambodia, dance became the means for her to heal and help others connect with the culture. This is an important book that reminds us all that no matter what happens, we need to live. We need to dance. --award-winning author, John Coy"


Cambodian Buddhism in the United States

Cambodian Buddhism in the United States

Author: Carol A. Mortland

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 2017-07-25

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1438466633

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The first comprehensive anthropological description of the Khmer Buddhism practiced by Cambodian refugees in the United States over the past four decades. Cambodian Buddhism in the United States is the first comprehensive anthropological study of Khmer Buddhism as practiced by Khmer refugees in the United States. Based on research conducted at Khmer temples and sites throughout the country over a period of three and a half decades, Carol A. Mortland uses participant observation, open-ended interviews, life histories, and dialogues with Khmer monks and laypeople to explore the everyday practice of Khmer religion, including spirit beliefs and healing rituals. This ethnography is enriched and supplemented by the use of historical accounts, reports, memoirs, unpublished life histories, and family memorabilia painstakingly preserved by refugees. Mortland also traces the changes that Cambodians have made to religion as they struggle with the challenges of living in a new country, learning English, and supporting themselves. The beliefs and practices of Khmer Muslims and Khmer Christians in the United States are also reviewed.


Holiday in Cambodia

Holiday in Cambodia

Author: Laura Jean McKay

Publisher: Black Inc.

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781863956062

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Beyond the killing fields and the temples of Angkor is Cambodia: a country with a genocidal past and a wide, open smile. A frontier land where anything is possible--at least for the tourists. Three backpackers board a train, ignoring the danger signs--and find themselves in the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Elderly sisters are visited by their vampire niece from Australia and set out to cure her. A singer creates a sensation in swinging 1969, on the eve of an American bombing campaign. These are bold and haunting.


Cambodian Buddhism

Cambodian Buddhism

Author: Ian Harris

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2008-03-11

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0824861760

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The study of Cambodian religion has long been hampered by a lack of easily accessible scholarship. This impressive new work by Ian Harris thus fills a major gap and offers English-language scholars a booklength, up-to-date treatment of the religious aspects of Cambodian culture. Beginning with a coherent history of the presence of religion in the country from its inception to the present day, the book goes on to furnish insights into the distinctive nature of Cambodia's important yet overlooked manifestation of Theravada Buddhist tradition and to show how it reestablished itself following almost total annihilation during the Pol Pot period. Historical sections cover the dominant role of tantric Mahayana concepts and rituals under the last great king of Angkor, Jayavarman VII (1181–c. 1220); the rise of Theravada traditions after the collapse of the Angkorian civilization; the impact of foreign influences on the development of the nineteenth-century monastic order; and politicized Buddhism and the Buddhist contribution to an emerging sense of Khmer nationhood. The Buddhism practiced in Cambodia has much in common with parallel traditions in Thailand and Sri Lanka, yet there are also significant differences. The book concentrates on these and illustrates how a distinctly Cambodian Theravada developed by accommodating itself to premodern Khmer modes of thought. Following the overthrow of Prince Sihanouk in 1970, Cambodia slid rapidly into disorder and violence. Later chapters chart the elimination of institutional Buddhism under the Khmer Rouge and its gradual reemergence after Pol Pot, the restoration of the monastic order's prerevolutionary institutional forms, and the emergence of contemporary Buddhist groupings.


Cambodge

Cambodge

Author: Penny Edwards

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 0824829239

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This study of Cambodian nationalism brings to life eight turbulent decades of cultural change and sheds new light on the colonial ancestry of Pol Pot's murderous dystopia. Penny Edwards re-creates the intellectual milieux and cultural traffic linking Europe and empire, interweaving analysis of key movements and ideas in the French Protectorate of Cambodge with contemporary developments in the Metropole. With its fresh take on the dynamics of colonialism and nationalism, Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860-1945 will become essential reading for scholars of history, politics, and society in Southeast Asia. Edwards' analysis of Buddhism and her consideration of Angkor's emergence as a national monument will be of particular interest to students of Asian and European religion, museology, heritage studies, and art history. It will also appeal to specialists in modern French history, cultural studies, and colonialism, as well as readers with a general interest in Cambodia.


Khmer Women on the Move

Khmer Women on the Move

Author: Annuska Derks

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2008-04-11

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0824832701

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This is a fascinating ethnography about young Khmer women moving to the city to work in the garment factories, in prostitution, and as street sellers. The author makes good use of new theoretical approaches in anthropology that focus on negotiation and creativity in situations of rapid change. The result is not only a welcome new book on post-war Cambodia but an important addition to the literature on women, migration, and labor in Southeast Asia and the world. —Judy Ledgerwood, Northern Illinois University Khmer Women on the Move offers a fascinating ethnography of young Cambodian women who move from the countryside to work in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. Female migration and urban employment are rising, triggered by Cambodia’s transition from a closed socialist system to an open market economy. This book challenges the dominant views of these young rural women—that they are controlled by global economic forces and national development policies or trapped by restrictive customs and Cambodia’s tragic history. The author shows instead how these women shape and influence the processes of change taking place in present-day Cambodia. Based on field research among women working in the garment industry, prostitution, and street trading, the book explores the complex interplay between their experiences and actions, gender roles, and the broader historical context. The focus on women involved in different kinds of work allows new insight into women’s mobility, highlighting similarities and differences in working conditions and experiences. Young women’s ability to utilize networks of increasing size and complexity allows them to move into and between geographic and social spaces that extend far beyond the village context. Women’s mobility is further expressed in the flexible patterns of behavior that young rural women display when trying to fulfill their own "modern" aspirations along with their family obligations and cultural ideals.